In today’s music business, the race to acquire and manage legacy catalogs has been defined by high-stakes valuation and the promise of perpetual returns. We have seen billions of dollars deployed on the basis of a seemingly inherent and enduring power of iconic IP. Yet, from a strategic and operational perspective, and the fact that these assets never live in a vacuum, there is a glaring inefficiency. While Digital Service Providers (DSPs) like Spotify and Apple Music are optimized for audio consumption, the industry’s most dynamic, high-value platform — YouTube — remains consistently and grossly underutilized.

For years, the industry viewed YouTube as merely a video repository, which has proved to be a fundamental and egregiously costly error. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine and a powerhouse DSP in its own right — a narrative Lyor Cohen emphasized in his “$8 Billion Letter.” We view the platform through a different lens: It is the ultimate ecosystem for brand preservation and revenue generation.

However, for many legacy artists, this ecosystem is in disarray. Search for a legend, and you are often met with a fragmented reality: pixelated bootlegs, unofficial uploads outranking official channels, and a visual identity that feels frozen in a bygone era. This neglect dilutes the brand and leaves significant revenue on the table.

To correct this, we operate on a specific methodology we call the Brand & Revenue Blueprint, which we have successfully deployed for icons including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Linda Ronstadt and others. It relies on three core pillars.

Reclaiming the Brand Narrative

The first step in modernizing a legacy brand is winning the battle for attention. In many instances, user-generated content (UGC) indexes higher than official artist channels simply due to neglect. When an official channel suffers from infrequent uploads, poor metadata or low-resolution assets, the algorithm — and the fans — drift elsewhere.

This issue must be approached with the precision of a media company, including by upscaling archival footage to meet modern HD standards, redesigning thumbnails to compete in a crowded feed and rigorously correcting metadata. This is not just digital housekeeping; it is brand elevation. By reintroducing tentpole content with a polished, authoritative presentation, you ensure that the official channel dominates search results. We are effectively telling the algorithm that the artist is active, relevant and the definitive source of their own history.

Protecting Rights & Brand Integrity

Once the official channel is established as the hub, the vast ecosystem surrounding it must be addressed. YouTube’s claiming capabilities are robust, yet often misunderstood or passively managed.

For legacy artists, the volume of UGC uploaded by fans over the last two decades is immense. Many rights holders view this as a nuisance, but it should instead be viewed as a revenue stream and branding opportunity, with an emphasis on capturing revenue from the “long tail” of content that many labels and estates miss.

However, this requires a nuanced, operational hand; YouTube content optimization companies must act as a neutral extension and partner to artists’ teams, labels and distributors, policing brand integrity without alienating the fan base. This means aggressively managing bootlegs and unauthorized full albums, and, increasingly, monitoring the rise of AI-manipulated uploads that threaten the authenticity of the artistry — in essence, protecting the IP while monetizing the fandom.

Extending Lifetime Value: Repackage for the Modern Fan

Finally, nostalgic search habits must be converted into recurring consumption. It is not enough to simply upload a music video from 1985. You have to speak the language of 2026.

This involves reimagining existing IP into new media formats, including utilizing YouTube Shorts to capture younger audiences with bite-sized, viral-ready moments; deploying 24/7 themed live streams to drive “lean-back” consumption, turning the channel into an always-on broadcast station; and creating visualizers that give audio-only tracks a visual footprint.

This active content strategy revitalizes the brand footprint. It creates a multi-hyphenate ecosystem where the artist is not just a musician, but a content creator, a broadcaster and a visual storyteller.

George Karalexis is co-founder/CEO of Ten2 Media. His expertise as a media executive, strategic advisor, and serial entrepreneur spans 15-plus years across multi-sector leadership, with a focus on music, marketing strategy and tactical team building. Donna Budica is co-founder/COO of Ten2 Media. With a degree in finance from The Wharton School and an MBA from USC Marshall, she leads corporate strategy and operations at Ten2 and its subsidiaries.

Evan Dando of The Lemonheads was recently hospitalized for mental health issues after allegedly sending unsolicited sexual videos to a fan. But according to his wife, Antonia Teixeira, the episode that led to his hospitalization actually started earlier this year when she and her husband were in the U.S. for a taping of NPR’s Tiny Desk, which she says will never see the light of day.

In a phone call with Billboard on Friday (Feb. 13) — the same day Dando’s rep confirmed the musician had checked in to a hospital in Brazil for mental health issues — Teixeira explained that Dando had been struggling with heavy drinking and prescription drug abuse during their five-year relationship. According to her, Dando’s latest issues began a few weeks prior to him checking into the hospital. The couple had traveled from their home in São Paulo to New York City so that The Lemonheads could appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Jan. 20, after which they went to Washington, D.C., to film a Tiny Desk episode.

It was during that trip that Teixeira says her husband’s behavior started to become erratic, making her concerned. “That day, he was totally out of his mind,” she said. “So out of his mind, that the Tiny Desk won’t be aired.”

NPR had no comment when contacted about the allegedly scrapped Tiny Desk episode. Dando’s rep also declined to comment.

When they got back to Brazil, Teixeira says Dando continued demonstrating unpredictable behavior. In her words, “everything went to hell” one day recently, when she alleges Dando ingested large quantities of Adderall, THC and mushrooms all at once and began exchanging explicit videos with numerous women on X. Upon discovering the videos, Teixeira says she took Dando to the facility where he’s currently receiving care and gave him an ultimatum: If he doesn’t complete his treatment, which she thinks will take at least 30 days, she will get a divorce.

“You can’t imagine how mad I was when I saw that he was sending messages to girls,” Teixeira said. “I’m very mad, because he betrayed me.” She also believes he sent the unsolicited video by accident to the wrong woman. “From what I’m looking [at] now, it wasn’t … he doesn’t remember what he did. He was in a mental meltdown.”

Teixeira says that her husband was “very embarrassed” after learning of his actions. She added that she believes his apparent relapse was “self-sabotage,” as he’d recently successfully recorded a new album and was slated to embark on a tour this summer, which has since been canceled. Last year, he released The Lemonheads’ first proper full-length in 19 years, Love Chant, and published a memoir titled Rumors of My Demise, in which he spoke about his history of using drugs such as heroin, speed and cocaine.

Though he quit using hard drugs after spending time in rehab in late 2021, Dando told The New York Times last year that he was still drinking alcohol and consuming “over-the-counter” substances. While speaking to Billboard, Teixeira says she has felt responsible for years for making sure her husband didn’t drink too much or use too many prescription drugs, which she says she’s kept hidden from him in a locked compartment.

But now, Teixeira says Dando’s hospitalization is his chance to take responsibility for his own substance use. “If he’s really, really committed, he can do it,” she shares of his current treatment plan.

“I feel like this is a second phase of his healing, you know?” she adds. “It’s him actually taking into his own hands, his responsibilities, the consequences, and not blaming other people and just trying to be better because he wants to be better himself … I’m very hopeful that things will get better.”

If you or anyone you know is facing mental health issues and/or issues with substance use, reach out to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for free, confidential referrals and resources 24/7 by visiting the SAMHSA website or calling the national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. Those in need of support after experiencing sexual harassment, assault or abuse can reach out to RAINN — which is also available 24/7 online, via phone at 800-656-HOPE or text 64673 — for live, confidential help and resources.